Novos 48, Medical 7 - Quadruple Still On Or Quintet ?

Is the quadruple still on could we even call it a quintet ! John Elders Trophy locked away after beating RGS Old Boys, the McQuillan Jug secured after a rare away win over Meds and now the Ringtons Cup also locked away. That's all three cups secured so far with the plate final to come on Saturday.

Novocastrians toppled Medicals at home 48 – 7 to retain the Ringtons Tea Cup in style and round off what has been an incredible league season for the 1st XV as well as the entire club in general, finishing 3rd overall in Counties 1 Durham and Northumberland recording 90 points from 22 games played (before reductions).

The title perhaps wasn’t meant to be as both Sunderland and Guisborough won their respective games on the day to finish second and first place, but regardless the 23/24 season will undoubtedly go down in the memory of many Novos supporters and players as one of the best in recent memory.

A brilliant turnout at Sutherland Park for the last game of the league season only added to the atmosphere of the final game, some incredible hard work behind the scenes from players, volunteers and spectators alike created a weekend to remember with the clubhouse bustling with people from the kickoff, till late in the night when the celebrations were at their peak.

The beer festival was of course, a resounding success, and a big thank you has to also be directed towards the Medicals squad who stuck around long after the final whistle to support and enjoy the day alongside the Novos crowd. Whilst the score flattered us at times, we know you are a better team than the result suggested, and we wish you the best of luck for next season. Especially, to Nick Richardson who is stepping away from coaching next season.

Novos kicked off the game with the wind at their backs blowing towards the car park, and after spending some time defending inside the Medicals half, Sion Gittins won the turnover and after a well timed pass he put Sam Busby through a hole near the far touchline and the full-back would do the rest from there, some great footwork put him around the last man to touch down in the corner, Searle added the tricky conversion to make it 7-0 with 5 minutes on the clock.

The second try would come some 20 minutes later after some impressive defense and scrummaging to repel a dangerous spell of Medicals attack inside our 22. A clearance kick into the wind didn't find touch and after a strong carry and offload from Michael Searle, Ben Jubb was able to finish under the sticks, Searle added the conversion to his assist and it was 14-0.

Johnny McSorley and Alex Watson would link up for our third, an inside ball from McSorely led to Watson breaking the line before eventually the ball was recycled for Rhys Merlane to feed Dylan Gittins to make it 19-0.

The bonus point was secured before the second half even began; another moment of Sion Gittins magic got him another line break on the halfway line before he executed the 2 on 1 to put in Merlane for his first of the day.

Lewis Chater would score the last try of the half in typical Chater fashion, after hammering close to the line, Searle would squeeze another offload away to Chater running onto it at speed crashing over the line like the back rower he truly is at heart. 31-0 at half time but we now had the wind against us.

Josh Farley entered the fray in the second half to make his debut for the 1st XV and the youngster had a great first outing in senior rugby, finding holes and offloads with every touch.

Slight confusion ensued after a period of sustained pressure inside the medicals 22, we perhaps got the rub of the green as the referee seemed to miss a potential knock on, but George Bambrick and Rhys Merlane played on to the whistle with the captain finding a great offload to the supporting scrum half to walk over for his second.

The final two tries from the home side proved to be two of the best of the afternoon, Chater and Busby both grabbing their seconds but both scores being created by Brandon Gilbert getting us out of danger on two occasions, some excellent footwork and offloading from the winger set up the two scores and allowed Chater and Busby to finish in style. Lewis scored his 16th try of the season to bring him top of the try scoring charts for all players in the leauge, an impressive achievement but even more so considering he plays fly-half!

Medicals would score a consolation try in the dying moments of the game through their centre who had a good game and brought the score to a more deserved 48-7.

Thank you to Lee for reffing - best we've had this season. Calm, great comms and moved the tackler and dealt with the scrums well on a muddy pitch.

Only a cup final remains now for the men in red, white and black with our opponents set to be decided tommorow when Ponteland take on Border Park. A huge final game for the 1st team who will be hoping to return with perhaps a quintet as surely we can create a fake league trophy after being denied the league title by a points deduction. The 2s also find themselves in cup action against Morpeth whilst the 3s host Ryton at home, so if you can't make it along for any playoff games then make your way to the club on Saturday for an enjoyable fixture!